Wouldn’t it be nice, to have a Brioche Day every week, so that you never run out of it? A full day dedicated to baking and eating brioche. I would be so happy to mark this day on my calendar. Growing up, we used to have a Weekly Fish Day, every Friday, so why not a Brioche Day?

Brioche has to be my favorite viennoiserie, whether to bake or eat. There is so much pleasure associated to a homemade brioche. Think about the immense happiness that arises from biting into the sweet airy, moelleux bread which, after one slice, invites you to a second one. With me, however, it starts with the smell, that very one of yeast which ferments and diffuses its wonderful aroma in the whole house. As a kid, whenever my mum used to bake a brioche, I loved to hang out in the house, never going too far, but preferring to stick around only to be able to watch the steps involved in her making of the brioche. I would sneak in to smell it, every now and then, lifting the towel covering the dough discreetly so as to check the puffiness of the dough. I found this pretty fascinating actually. If I could have trapped the brioche fragrance in a jar which I could have opened at will only to inhale, I would have been a very happy girl.

Making Brioche

But although I love brioche, I do not make it as often as I wished. Because between you and me, for all of us who have already baked brioche, we know that it takes time. And, wouldn’t we all love to have more time at hand, to cook the subject of of our deepest fancies? Just like with any type of bread, a brioche requires attention.

And so instead of making only one brioche, I baked two. Let me explain, because there is a reason. I needed to have stale brioche for another baking project, and really, can brioche really ever get stale? Certainly not in our household! You will soon see what I am talking about, but in the meantime, I hope that you enjoy a piece of the simplest pleasure with the simplest brioche. Ce n’est vraiment pas compliqué ! (Not difficult at all!)

The Simplest Brioche (1 loaf, mold 10 ” long)

You need:

8 3/4 oz (1 2/3 cups) all-purpose flour

2 3/4 oz butter, at room temperature

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 dose dry baker’s yeast (1 Tbsp)

2 Tbsp fine sugar

1/3 cup warm milk

1 pinch salt

1 egg yolk for glaze

Steps:

In a bowl, mix the flour with the yeast, make a hole in the middle.

Add the warm milk mixing with the tip of your fingers (if using a stand mixer, pour the milk slowly and steadily while mixing, with the hook attachment.)

Add the sugar and a pinch of salt, then add the soft butter, piece after piece, waiting each time that each piece is asborbed.

Then one by one, add the eggs, mixing well between each. Work the dough until it is elastic and detaches from your fingers more easily (or from the bowl of the stand mixer).

Cover and let rest in a warm place, away from drafts, for two hours, until it doubles in size.

Work the dough again for 10 min and divide it in four balls. Place them in a greased rectangular mold and cover. Let rise for an hour again.

Preheat the oven at 400 F.

Brush the brioche with the egg yolk mixed with a dash of sugar. With a pair of scissors, make small cuts at the top of each ball.

Place in the oven to bake for 10 min then reduce the heat to 350 F and bake for about 20 to 30 min.

I always thought I had to have those lovely little brioche tins to make brioche at home, and I am loathe to crowd my already over-stuffed cupboards with specialized equipment that rarely gets used. Thank you for providing me with a brioche recipe that can be made with what I already have!

This looks both lovely and deceptively simple – I’ll have to try your recipe over Easter.

I should also tell you that I have been following your blog for a while, and have created a feed on Livejournal, which is now being watched by 4 people 🙂 There is an option to comment on the feed directly, but I don’t think it has been used this far. If you’d like ot keep an eye on it, you can find the feed here: http://syndicated.livejournal.com/beaskitchenfeed/profile

Thank you for sharing your joy of cooking, and your talent for making pretty photos.

My husband made the most wonderful brioche for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was rich and luxurious, and we couldn’t stop eating it! Your recipe looks much simpler, and I’m going to share it with him.

Oooh, I see that you are back from your vacation and busy baking up a storm already. That’s wonderful as I missed your beautiful food pictures when you were gone. By the way, I bought a DSLR (gasp!) and haven’t figured out its full potential yet…for example, when I shoot in macro setting, the flash pops up when there is plenty of natural sunlight and the flash refuses to unpop-up? Anyway, glad that you are back and I look forward to more yummylicious baked goodness from you. 🙂

Hello! I’ve been reading your blog for a little while now and am only now delurking. The food is amazing and the pictures are lovely. I’d really like to try this recipe, but I’m wondering if it’s possible to do with your hands or a regular mixer? And if so, are there any special tips?

I’m trying to find a recipe for brioche with no sugar added. It can be purchased in France and is delicious toasted and served with foie gras. Could I simply use your recipe and leave out the sugar (and maybe add more salt)?

Pille, ahhah, good! So no excuse to not make it. You are well equipped to.

Laurie, thank you, once more.

Ea, thanks a lot for the note. I will definitely have a look at the link you added.

Leonine, merci.

Peabody, a neat idea, isn’t it?

Kat, ahah, maybe it is time for you to get to the Kitchen Aid part.

Lydia, oh nice. Hope your husband likes it. As I am writing I have one in the oven. ANd thanks for the congrats. I am pleased you got to get a copy of Edible Boston.

Rasa Malaysia, congrats. I am sure you will have fun learning tons about your camera. If your flash pops open, that means you are in automatic mode. Switch to manual to control it.

Natalia, thank you. I think you can petition for that day. I am sure we could find enough people.

Helen, ah oui, moi aussi, c’est un plaisir simple mais si bon.

Jelena, thank you for your visits and note today! Definitely, you can do this brioche by hand. What is required however is to work the dough much longer (good for the arms ;-)) I made it by hand in the past when I did not have a Kitchen Aid. DO not use a regular mixer however. Better by hand if you do not have a Kitchen Aid. Good luck!Hope you like it

Rob,the second project is to come (already eaten for sure, ahahah!) Thanks for your visit, once more.

I made the brioche this morning (I had free time) and it was excellent! Half of it has been devoured already (not just by me though). I did make it with my hands and it was a slight workout, but it was fun too. Thank you for sharing this great recipe! I can’t wait to see what you do with the stale brioche.

I am always curious to see new brioche recipes. My brioche making has turned into a bit of a joke with my husband and I as I try to make it every week. (So yes, I completely endorse the brioche day idea). It’s also a joke because it always ends in frustration: In particular, my brioche never rises as much as I’d like, (though all my other breads do). I have been starting it Friday night, refridgerating it, and taking it out around 9am on Saturday–and it finally gets a bit of rise in the evening…any thoughts/hints? Is it all that butter weighing it down–I’m thinking the fridge is not a good idea, despite what many recipes say… Anyway, even a denser than desired brioche is still a brioche and therefore, quite yummy and worth the effort!

Jelena, oh nice surprise. I am happy you liked it and yes great for you. By hand requires more work but is worth it.

Sara, this brioche recipe definitely has less butter than other recipes I have played with. I have not tried with the fridge as a matter of fact. my dough always rise by warmer source of heat. And glad to hear you enjoyed the NZ pics.

Visiting from the bread pudding page – of course I’ll give it a try. Once made an “Americanized” recipe for a picnic to Bath County (visiting the Jefferson Baths – oh, life is good!). One woman was from France and she turned up her nose when I said our bread was brioche! Ha! …but how brave of me, hehe.

Hi,
I tried making brioche today evening, and it turned out absolutely gorgeous! The lone loaf got demolished within minutes between us 3 flatmates.
Some observations, I used 1 full egg and only the white of the second one, saving the yolk for the glaze. I also needed to use extra flour since the dough went crazy sticking to my hand.
I am a novice baker, and it would greatly help if you could provide some intermediate pics or some visual cues of what the dough should like between stages. I understand that’s difficult though…
All said, the final loaf was a beaut! Uniform light crumb, rich taste with a slightly crisp eggy top… it made my day!
Thanks very much!

Hi, I am just trying out this recipe, and the dough does not look as smooth as in your pictures. It still is somewhat sticky. Does this mean there is too much liquid in the dough still? Should I add a bit of flour prior to baking? Thank you!

Hi. I am making your recipe right now. Are you sure the amount of flour is correct? 1 2/3 c? The dough seems very wet (1/3 cup milk, 2 eggs, almost a stick of butter). I hope this turns out. Sorry, I don’t know how to write French 🙁

Yes the proportions are right. If you can weigh the ingredients, it should help you be more accurate too. Hope it turns out nice. Also, the dough needs to be worked enough that it becomes elastic. So first it is wet, then it changes as you work the dough.

This is a great blog…I am in the process of delving into wedding planning and all the research is starting to pay off. I enjoy reading articles and blogs like this it is heartwarming. I am planning a christmas wedding 2008 and I love all the ideas.http://navillus99.blogspot.com

I made this today and it is a much quicker recipe compared to other brioche recipes. The crust is the best I have ever tasted on a bread! I did not glaze the top with any egg yolk but the crust turned out very crisp and flaky. Next time I may try using floured hands to mould the dough into balls, and then bake them in muffin tins to allow more surface area for that great crust.

I followed the recipe excat bit my “dough” was a paste and after letting it mix in the stand mixer for 15 mins it was still a paste. So I had no option but to add more flour. The result was a very dense loaf. What did I do wrong ?

This recipe is superb! I worked as a pastry chef for many years, but have always utilized traditional recipes requiring the overnight chilling of the dought. While I did alter your recipe slightly–I used traditional brioche tins and had to cut down the cooking time and temperature–it nevertheless turned out superbly! I packaged my single brioche for special gifts with homemade jam and friends are still sending me thank you’s! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipe–Happy Holidays and Happy Baking!

Hi, just reading these comments as my brioche is rising. mine was a little damp so i added a bit more flour… i hope i have not ruined it. i’ve never even eaten brioche before so i probably wont know if its right or not. i have just read about it in food magazines and thought i’d give it a try. i guess only time will tell! 1 hr to go…

Hi Bea.
Thanks for the recipe. I tried it, and anyone please, please tell me what’s wrong.
I did the exact amount of ingredients, but after I mixed everything, it was very wet. So, I added more flour, which I bought in a rush because I finished all my mom’s left flour.
Anyway, I kind of messed with the ingredients.
I used wheat flour (because my mom said it’s OK)
and I used coarse sugar.
By the way, I’m just 19, and this is my first time making a BREAD.
Thanks!

Well, I went for it anyway, and baked the mixture,
and it turn out pretty alright (besides the suface burnt and the texture is quite wet, which I think because it didn’t bake well)!
yay to my first bread. got it’s pics at my blog.

I’ve made this brioche twice in the past few days and i can’t believe how easy it is and how well it turns out. I’m not at all good with baking, but this recipe is simple and makes a delicious loaf. thanks a lot!

Made this recipe today. Used the braiding technique found here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcPnB0Sgc-Q. made a beautiful looking loaf. But it has a slightly fermented taste, a faint smell of very dry white wine (almost tending towards vinegar) any suggestions.

I made this recipe for Easter/birthday brunch and it was a smashing success. The dough was a bit runny after all the liquid additions; however, upon letting the KitchenAid do its work for about 15 minutes, the dough was elastic and pulled away from the bowl as desired. It was soft and luxurious to work with; golden, buttery and delicious to eat!

Thank you for sharing this! I’m making it to get some stale brioche, as well. How unfortunate that the first time I make brioche it can’t be eaten fresh! Oh well, after trying it once, I’m sure there will be many more brioche days to come. I mixed this by hand, and it’s a process that I would highly recommend; very satisfying! I normally make bread with a spoon and then by kneading, but I may adopt this method. My stale brioche will be used for this almond bread pudding: http://www.achicabakes.com/2009/03/sweet-almond-bread-pudding.html

absolutely wonderful recipe. this was my first time using yeast in a recipe and first time using a standing mixer. the bread turned out beautifully- thank you for posting the recipe.

even though i got excellent results, i do wonder if i was supposed to use “active dry” or “instant” dry yeast? also, 1 packet of yeast is 2 1/4 tsp. i had to use 2 packets to reach 1T and i wonder if that was correct since the directions say “1 dose” and 1 sachet in French.

I was very excited to make this recipe and have had it bookmarked for months. I made it tonight and something went really wrong. Can you help clarify the amount of butter because I put almost two sticks in and it has the consistency almost of a crossiant! Flakey on the top and into the loaf and then it became more bread like in the middle, almost close to brioche but not quite. The loaf is a different consistency in certain parts. The dough was very wet and I have determined that I did not mix it enough by hand, I don’t have a Kitchen Aide unfortunately, as other posters mentioned their dough to be very wet. Should I be using unsalted or salted butter? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I would love to make Brioche for an up coming New Years party!

Adding 2 sticks is too much. The recipe calls for 2 3/4 ounces. That’s about 6 tablespoons (80 g) for a loaf. Hope this helps. Good luck with it. If you work it by hand, simply increase the time. It will give you arm muscle! 😉

I have the dough rising right now. I added a bit more flour because it did seem way too sticky. After adding about 1/2 cup more, it definitely seemed to get to the right consistency. Putting it in the standing mixer was easy and left me free of sticky fingers. YEA! Will let you know how it goes. 🙂

Bea,
WoW!!! is all I can say. j’ai adore le Brioche, but was so hesitant to make one because it always sounded so complicated and I didn’t want to ruin it…but your recipe seemed so simple…it’s just amazing at how Simple it is…yet the best Brioche I have tasted yet. Very light with a wonderful crust. Not alot of butter and very little sugar that gives it the perfect hint of sweetness to it.
Your Simple recipe is a keeper…this was my first time making brioche and your directions, ingredients and measurements made it soooo easy to make. THANK YOU!
Roxanne

I tried this today, and it was very good. I weighed out the ingredients, but still had a more crumb-y finished product than I think it should be. My dough, at 2nd rise, was more glistening and soft than what you show in the pictures. After adding the eggs, I saw it was not mixing iwth a dough hook, so after about 5 minutes, I switched to a paddle – this mixed it better. I mixed until it pulled away as you suggested, so I am not sure why my dough was so wet. Any thoughts? Regardless, my husband and I still ate the entire loaf!!

Having just read the entire blog on your brioche recipe I have determined that it is going to be much simpler than expected for me to attempt to make this and by hand! We took our children to Portugal on holiday 2yrs ago and they ate sugar topped brioche rolls with their fruit every morning, since our return I have been looking in every shop I go to for these but they just don’t seem available to buy here in the UK, now with your recipe I am going to attempt to make them myself:- is it going to be possible for me to use this recipe and shape into balls and bake on a sheet to make the rolls? If so how many do you think I should get and how long should I bake them for, also I’m assuming to replicate the Portugese experience all I need to do is sprinkle a little sugar over the egg wash? Many thanks and thanks also for your sharing your experiences, for people like me the Google search engine is a total life saver, I will be bookmarking your blog now!!

Hello Kay, oh you got bitten by the brioche bug. Nice! 😉 You can definitely divide the dough into small balls to make individual brioches. I suggest getting small molds, like these if you can, and bake them for less long since they are smaller.

I just made this today and I had a few questions. Mine actually got REALLY dark on the top, almost burnt. Did I add too much sugar to the egg wash? Also I found that mine came out REALLY bubbly on the inside (tons of air pockets) too much yeast? Would really appreciate your thoughts. I’ve never made bread from scratch before so it’s all new to me.

Can’t figure what I did wrong – everyone says this is the easiest recipe ever. My dry yeast did not dissolve and the batter feels gritty. Usually when I bake yeast breads I dissolve the yeast in warm water or milk before mixing it with the flour. Its almost done rising – we’ll see how it turns out but I may be starting over – what a waste of time and ingredients!

My brioche is on the oven now and I am oh so looking forward to taste it.

I was made aware of how wet the dough might be so I was careful on the milk, butter and egg (esp. that I only had active dry yeast that requires warm water to activate) . By the time milk was in (the food processor), the dough was so wet I decided to use only the egg yolks. The dough rose beautifully, though. Next time, I will activate my yeast on the warm milk… 🙂 Thank you for sharing the recipe.

I made this yesterday with my stand mixer and it was as easy as promised and came out great! Thank you for the fabulous recipe! Hey other Kate, the top of mine also browned a little bit more than I would have like, and I suspect it was a combination of perhaps too much sugar in the egg yolk wash and my erratic oven temperature. When I saw how quickly it was browning, I turned the temp down to 325 and only cooked the brioche for 25 mins total and it came out fine.

Having made brioche the long and hard way before, I was curious to try this recipe. Having lived in France as a young child, that patisserie smell is something magical in my memory! I wanted it again in my house… so I doubled the recipe, and only then did I start reading the comments about very wet dough. Not sure if it’s the doubling that did it, or not quite accurate measurements, or if I added the milk too quickly, but my dough is more like a thick cake batter. I’m going to go with it, it’s on it’s first “rise” now and if I have to bake it in a cake pan, well, so be it. I don’ t think I will be able to shape it into lovely little ‘boules’, that’s for sure. Ah well, looking forward to the smell….

I have to say thank you again for this brioche recipe. Here we are on Christmas Eve thinking about tomorrow morning’s breakfast and we’re all very much looking forward to having our brioche. We’ve made it many times and it has come out beautiful every time we’ve made it…we usually make it in 8 individual brioche molds. I’ve recently started adding Swedish Pearl sugar on the top and it reminds me of the brioche I got while on vacation in Fontainebleau. This recipe is just so wonderful and couldn’t be easier. One thing I’ve noticed while making it is that if I let the dough mix for at least 10 minutes in the Kitchen Aid (using the dough hook) it comes out just perfect. This recipe is definitely a family favorite…thanks for sharing it!

i love your recipe. i never made a brioche at home. i am gonna make this every week. brioche day ahahahahahaheheheehhehuhuhuhuhohohohoh. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmMmMmMmmmMMMmMMMMMMMmmmmmmMmmmmMMMmmmmmm.

Thanks for this great and easy recipe! First time I make brioche… I live in a city where there`s no such thing as la brioche, what gets closest is the panettone during christmas eve…so I didn`t really know what to expect. Mine resembled a buttery bread, is that ok? I was hoping for it to be more airy, not so tight, what is it to be done to make it spongy but less compact?
Thanks again, love love the blog, recipes and photos 🙂

In step 4, do you tip the dough into another (oiled or floured) bowl? Or do you leave it in the (already used) stand mixer bowl? From your photo, it looks like you used another bowl to do step 5 (leave to proof for 2 hours).

I’ve been an avid follower of your flickr photographs for years, I just tried this today (bread novice) and like a few others I found the dough to be rather wet, I had to add almost 100g more flour in order to achieve a dough-like consistency after working it by hand for over 20 mins (I have only baked pain de campagne and foccaccia before this), but the result looks about the same as the unbaked picture you show above, but it smelled wonderful while I worked it, hope it turns out well!!

Bea, Y-E-S!!!!!!!! I did it! It smells wonderful, tastes wonderful, and looks pretty much like yours. I have officially reached my current bread goal [Brioche is first, Croissants next] and I’m estatic can you tell? I have been making Artisan breads for about a year [“Artisan Breads in Five Minutes a Day”] and now I’ve moved on to pan breads…….this is my first. It seems so many wonderful sandwiches are built around really good bread – specifically Brioche, so I reached the goal. I took 4 photos of the progression of this task, but do not know if I can send them to you. I too had a problem with stickyness when placing the 4 balls in the pan…..I ended rubbing a little butter on my hads to help. Also, I had some cracking, crazing, sorry, don’t know what you’d call it [pic would have helped here] and don’t know what caused it……..it’s not a problem, it doesn’t affect the final product – I was just wondering what caused it. I hope you can offer me some help/answers and PLEASE let me know about forwarding the pics. Thanks so much, you’ve made me EXTREMELY happy!

Well, I am making your brioche right now — it is rising — but I hope I used the right amount of yeast — the recipe calls for 1 tablespoon — I made a double recipe and put in 2 tablespoons. Correct? Some posters said they used 1 teaspoon!

Made this today. Very simple recipe although it took about 15 minutes to become elasticky in my Kenwood Chef mixer using the dough hook. It rose beautifully and after 2 hours it was mixed for another 15 minutes but it was still very sticky and impossible to turn it into 4 balls. I used a metal spoon and improvised.

When I baked, it cooked very quickly (my oven is very fast). I am pleased with the result in terms of finish and texture but I think it needs more sugar (shock horror) because to me, brioche is more sweet than buttery in flavour. I did eat it neat, without anything on it and I suspect with marmalade or something similar the sweetness of the preserves would help. I will use more sugar next time. Lovely website!

I made this beautiful brioche on Saturday morning. I had to convert from metric measurements, but still the result was delicate and well balanced. Thank you sharing for this wonderful patisserie favorite!

I was so happy to find this simple brioche recipe. My almost 3 year old daughter loves brioche, so I decided to try making it.

I must have done something wrong (not sure what) but after adding the eggs, it was more like batter! Until adding eggs, I was mixing with hand (with lots of help from my toddler!) but then I used a hand mixer with a dough attachment. It didn’t make things any better. I have ended up adding more flour and a little more butter to make it into an elastic dough. Not sure how it will turn out!

Béatrice Peltre is a food writer, stylist and photographer working out of her home studio in Boston.
She is a regular contributor to the Boston Globe Food Section, and her work has appeared in many publications
such as Saveur, Food and Wine, Whole Living, Fine Cooking, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, the Huffington Post,
the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, Edible Boston, Living France, the New York Times Diner’s Journal,
and in many other international magazines.